Social Sector and Development of UP
- 01Health and Education in UP
- 02Development, Welfare and Innovation in UP
Disclaimer
This eBook has been prepared by NotesCafe solely for examination preparation and general educational guidance for UPPCS and other competitive examinations.
The content is based on the latest syllabus and previous year questions of UPPCS and other competitive examinations, and has been prepared with reference to standard textbooks, NCERT, government publications, official reports and other reliable public sources. Every effort has been made to keep the information accurate and up to date at the time of publication. Even so, errors, omissions or inaccuracies may remain. Facts, data, laws, schemes and policies may also change after publication.
- The author, the publisher and NotesCafe shall not be responsible or liable for any loss, damage or inconvenience caused to any person acting, or refraining from acting, on the basis of any material in this eBook.
- This eBook is a study aid. It is not a substitute for the official notification, the syllabus issued by the commission, or original sources. Readers should verify important facts from official sources such as commission notifications, the Gazette and government websites.
- Answers and explanations of previous year questions are based on the author's understanding and the information available. If there is any difference, the official answer key released by the commission shall prevail.
- NotesCafe does not guarantee selection, any specific marks or any result in any examination.
- Names of examinations, commissions and organisations are used for reference only. NotesCafe is not affiliated with or endorsed by UPPSC, UPSC or any government body.
- If you notice any error, please write to us at support@notes-cafe.com so that it can be corrected in the next edition.
Copyright & Licence
© 2026 NotesCafe. All rights reserved.
This eBook is licensed to the purchaser for personal, non-commercial use only. No part of it may be reproduced, copied, stored, shared, forwarded, uploaded to any website, Telegram/WhatsApp group or cloud drive, resold or distributed in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopy, screenshot, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher. Removing the NotesCafe watermark or branding is also prohibited.
Unauthorised copying, sharing or sale is an infringement of copyright under the Copyright Act, 1957, and may also attract action under the Information Technology Act, 2000. NotesCafe reserves the right to take legal action and to suspend the account of any user found involved in piracy.
All disputes are subject to the jurisdiction of the courts at Lucknow only.
Contents
Health and Education in UP
Health Status, Indicators and Key Issues (AES/JE, MMR/IMR, Nutrition)
Chapter Overview
Health and education decide how far Uttar Pradesh's large, young population becomes human capital: the state has cut infant and maternal mortality and expanded medical colleges, and has rebuilt government schools under Operation Kayakalp, yet nutrition gaps, staff shortages and learning levels remain below national averages.
The chapter first sets out health status and key issues and the infrastructure and schemes that address them, then turns to school education with its reforms, and ends with higher, technical and vocational education.
- 1Health Status, Indicators and Key Issues
- addressed through
- 2Health Infrastructure and Schemes
- human capital also needs
- 3School Education in UP: Status, Issues and Reforms
- feeds into
- 4Higher, Technical and Vocational Education
UP’s MMR fell from 167 to 151 (SRS 2018–20 to 2019–21) and its IMR stands at 37 (SRS 2021), yet both remain far above India’s 93 and 27. The eastern Terai districts of the Gorakhpur and Basti divisions form the historic AES/JE belt, while Bahraich, Shrawasti and Balrampur lag on most indicators.
Where UP Stands on Health Indicators
- Maternal mortality: MMR is declining but still among the highest in India, driven by anaemia, haemorrhage, sepsis and hypertension; e.g. 151 per lakh live births in UP vs 93 for India (SRS 2019–21).
- Infant and neonatal deaths: most infant deaths occur in the first month, which points to weak newborn care; e.g. IMR 37 and NMR 26 in UP vs IMR 27 for India (SRS 2021).
- High fertility: UP’s fertility remains above replacement level, adding to population and health-service pressure; e.g. TFR 2.7 (SRS 2021) against 2.0 for India.
- Child malnutrition: stunting, wasting and underweight persist due to poor diets, infection and sanitation gaps; e.g. stunting 39.7 per cent, underweight 32.1 per cent (NFHS-5).
- Anaemia: iron-deficiency anaemia affects most young children and half of all women, contributing to maternal deaths; e.g. 66.4 per cent children and 50.4 per cent women anaemic (NFHS-5).
Main Health Problems and Their Causes
- AES/JE belt: waterlogged Terai paddy fields, pig rearing and poor sanitation made eastern UP the encephalitis hotspot for decades; e.g. Gorakhpur, Kushinagar, Deoria, Mahrajganj; BRD Medical College crisis, August 2017.
- Communicable load: TB, leprosy, vector-borne and waterborne diseases stay high due to crowding, flooding and unsafe water; e.g. UP has India’s largest TB case load; dengue and chikungunya in cities, malaria and kala-azar in the Terai and east.
- Rising NCDs: diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, cancer and mental illness are rising in towns and villages, helped by tobacco and alcohol use, creating a double burden; e.g. hypertension a silent epidemic; mental health care limited mainly to KGMU and BHU, with stigma a barrier.
- Rural service gaps: rural PHCs and CHCs lack specialists, diagnostics and assured drugs, forcing costly travel to cities; e.g. large specialist shortfall at rural CHCs (Health Dynamics of India 2022–23).
- Social determinants: poverty, early marriage, low female literacy and open defecation pockets undermine health outcomes; e.g. Aspirational Districts such as Shrawasti, Bahraich, Balrampur, Sonbhadra.
Progress Since 2017 and the Gaps That Remain
Indicators have improved since 2017, but UP still trails the national average on almost every measure, and gains differ from region to region.
- Progress: encephalitis control: inter-departmental drives, vaccination and early treatment sharply cut AES/JE deaths in the eastern belt; e.g. Dastak and Communicable Disease Control campaigns since 2018.
- Progress: safer births: free delivery, cash incentives and ambulances raised institutional births and lowered MMR; e.g. institutional births 83.4 per cent (NFHS-5).
- Gap: regional and social divide: Terai, Bundelkhand and poorer social groups still record the worst nutrition and mortality outcomes; e.g. Aspirational Districts of Bahraich, Shrawasti and Chitrakoot.
Present Status and State Initiatives
- Encephalitis drive: door-to-door fever surveillance, vector control and treatment centres at CHCs guard the AES/JE belt; e.g. Dastak campaign (2018); JE vaccination in UP since 2006.
- Maternal and child health: free check-ups on the 9th of every month and delivery incentives target high-risk pregnancies; e.g. PMSMA (2016) and Janani Suraksha Yojana (2005).
- Nutrition and TB: nutrition missions and cash support for TB patients attack malnutrition and the infection cycle; e.g. POSHAN Abhiyaan (2018) and Saksham Anganwadi; Nikshay Poshan Yojana (2018) under TB Mukt UP.
UP should cut maternal, infant and nutrition-related deaths faster through better newborn care and nutrition, so that India can meet SDG 3 and SDG 2 and the right to health under Article 21.
Based on NCERT, Standard Books references, Keywords from Syllabus and Previous Year question Papers
Health Infrastructure and Schemes
Guided by the UP Health Policy 2018, the state has expanded its three-tier network, opened AIIMS Gorakhpur (2021) and AIIMS Raebareli, and raised government medical colleges from 17 in 2017 to 35 in 2022. The state’s first AYUSH university, at Gorakhpur, was inaugurated on 1 July 2025.
UP’s Three-Tier Public Health Network
- Sub-centres: the first contact point, run by ANMs, delivers antenatal care, immunisation and family planning for about 5,000 people; e.g. upgraded as Ayushman Arogya Mandirs with Community Health Officers and NCD screening.
- Primary Health Centres: doctor-led six-bed units serve about 30,000 people, with some running round the clock; e.g. 24x7 PHCs for deliveries in rural blocks.
- Community Health Centres: thirty-bed first referral units should host a surgeon, physician, gynaecologist and paediatrician; e.g. Encephalitis Treatment Centres at CHCs of eastern UP.
- District hospitals: hospitals of 200–500 beds provide most specialities, surgery, diagnostics and trauma care for each district; e.g. district hospitals upgraded into medical colleges under one-district-one-college.
- Tertiary care: national institutes and state medical universities provide super-speciality treatment, take referrals and train doctors for the whole state; e.g. AIIMS Gorakhpur and Raebareli; KGMU, SGPGIMS Lucknow; BHU IMS Varanasi.
UP Health Policy 2018, Medical Education and AYUSH
- Policy vision: the policy seeks universal access to quality care without financial hardship by raising access, improving quality and lowering cost; e.g. UP State Health Policy, January 2018.
- Policy directions: it stresses primary care, human resources, public–private partnership, e-health and special care for women, children and the elderly; e.g. telemedicine and generic medicine outlets.
- Medical colleges: the state aims for a medical college in every district, often by upgrading district hospitals; e.g. government colleges rose from 17 (2017) to 35 (2022).
- Nursing and paramedics: every medical college is to have a co-located nursing college to ease the acute nurse shortage; e.g. Mission Niramaya (2023) for quality nursing and paramedical education.
- AYUSH University: an affiliating state university for Ayurveda, Yoga, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy that brings teaching, research and treatment together; e.g. Mahayogi Guru Gorakhnath AYUSH University, Gorakhpur (Act 2020; inaugurated 1 July 2025).
Central and State Health Schemes
- Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY: cashless hospital cover of ₹5 lakh per family per year at empanelled public and private hospitals; e.g. launched 23 September 2018; UP among the largest beneficiary states.
- State insurance top-up: a state scheme extends the same cover to poor families left out of the central list; e.g. Mukhyamantri Jan Arogya Abhiyan (2019).
- National Health Mission: rural and urban missions fund staff, ASHAs, immunisation and maternal-child care across districts; e.g. NRHM and NUHM with RMNCH+A; Mission Indradhanush (2014) for lagging immunisation pockets.
- Emergency transport: free ambulances carry emergency cases and pregnant women from home to facility and back; e.g. 108 emergency and 102 Janani Shishu ambulances.
- Disease campaigns: targeted drives combine house-to-house surveillance, vaccination, early diagnosis and treatment for encephalitis and TB; e.g. Dastak (2018); TB Mukt UP with active case finding.
- National disease programmes: central disease programmes run through the state health department with their own staff, drugs and targets; e.g. Pulse Polio (post-eradication), NTEP (earlier RNTCP), vector-borne, leprosy and District Mental Health Programme.
- Digital health: teleconsultation, digital health IDs and electronic records extend specialist advice to remote villages at low cost; e.g. e-Sanjeevani; Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (2021).
How Far the Efforts Have Worked
Buildings, colleges and insurance cards have grown fast, but staff, rural service quality and public spending have not kept pace.
- Achievement: capacity: new AIIMS, medical colleges and critical-care units have brought tertiary care closer to eastern and central UP; e.g. AIIMS Gorakhpur (2021); paediatric ICU at BRD Medical College.
- Gap: human resources: posts for specialists and nurses stay vacant, so new buildings run below capacity; e.g. about 0.6 nurses per 1,000 people against the WHO norm of 3 (2023).
- Gap: rural quality and cost: patients bypass weak rural facilities for costly private care, keeping out-of-pocket spending high; e.g. private hospitals concentrated in Lucknow, Kanpur and NCR.
- Gap: low spending: per capita public health spending stays below many states despite a large absolute budget; e.g. about ₹27,086 crore for health in 2024–25.
Challenges and Way Forward
- Raise spending: lift the health share of the state budget and direct more of it to primary care; e.g. National Health Policy 2017 asks states to spend over 8 per cent of budgets on health.
- Staff the system: rural service incentives, cadre reform and more nursing seats should fill specialist and nurse vacancies; e.g. co-located nursing colleges under Mission Niramaya.
- Prevention and integration: strengthen NCD screening, sanitation, nutrition and AYUSH-based wellness alongside hospital care to cut the disease load; e.g. Ayushman Arogya Mandirs; school health programmes; yoga through the AYUSH University.
UP should fill staff posts and fund primary care well, linking it to AIIMS-level referral, to reach universal health coverage under SDG 3.
Based on NCERT, Standard Books references, Keywords from Syllabus and Previous Year question Papers